[Westheim]

The week began with Maldonado still out for at least a few more days, and Adam Bates hitting the DL with a sore elbow. He might even come back this year, but we had no use for him right *now*. Oscar Alcala was brought back up.

Who thought we’d see Oscar Alcala in a *second* major league game??

Raccoons (93-49) @ Loggers (52-90) – September 9-12, 2047

Final dips with Milwaukee for the season, and they sure had seen enough of us, winning only two of the previous 14 engagements in ’47 (although they DID have a 1-game winning streak against the Critters…!). They were second-worst in runs scored, worst in runs allowed, with an eye-watering -259 run differential (the Loggers!), and general welcomed the impending arrival of October.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (13-7, 3.10 ERA) vs. Carlos Vasquez (7-10, 3.96 ERA)
Carlton Harman (0-4, 7.36 ERA) vs. Walt Wright (6-12, 5.47 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (12-8, 3.02 ERA) vs. Nicholas Pollock (2-3, 5.22 ERA)
Jeremy Baker (3-4, 4.27 ERA) vs. Tomas Ruiz (3-18, 6.45 ERA)

Right, left; right, left.

The Coons entered with a magic number of eight, allowing for clinching the division in Milwaukee in theory, but then again we were 1-6 in September, so maybe we should watch the GB column instead. The Indians began the week 12 1/2 out.

Game 1
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 2B Waters – 1B Toohey – LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 3B Martell – C Morales – P Merino
MIL: LF Reeves – 3B M. Grant – 2B Loyola – SS R. Espinoza – C Payne – 1B Edsell – RF McIntyre – CF Pate – P C. Vasquez

The Raccoons opened the game with two singles before continued the stalling game that they had put up for the last week-plus that was so annoying to witness. Merino faced the minimum in three innings, with Ricky Espinoza hitting a single and being doubled up by Ricky Payne in the second inning. After that, he actually got a lead with straight base hits to leftfield in the fourth inning. Toohey singled, and Derek Baskins and Armando Herrera whacked a pair of doubles, Herrera getting two RBI’s for the first runs on the board. Vasquez walked Al Martell, but Tony Morales killed the inning with a double play. Matt Waters drove in a pair in the fifth, bringing home Merino, who reached on an error, and Adame, who singled. Two runs were scored in the sixth as well, but this time by the team in white shirts and green pants, as Vasquez, Bill Reeves, and Mike Grant tagged Merino for straight singles, Grant bringing home a run, and Jon Loyola’s sac fly to center bringing Reeves across. The Raccoons loaded the bags in the seventh with their 3-4-5 batters, which ended Vasquez’ day with one out, and brought on lefty Bubba Poss, who nevertheless first faced right-handed Armando Herrera, who clipped an RBI single to John Pate’s feet, 5-2. Righty pinch-hitters Ben Coen and Jimmy Dalton added a run each, with a sac fly and a single, respectively. Merino was not hit for, but shot a 2-out RBI single to centerfield anyway, 8-2…! Pellicano hit for Mercado, but grounded out to end the top 7th. Merino allowed another run on a Pate sac fly in the bottom of the seventh, after which Jeremy Chaney got the ball for what we hoped would be two meatball innings, but before long allowed a single to Jon Loyola and a homer to Ricky Espinoza. Suddenly, it was a 3-run game again… Mike Lynn would end up closing out the game rather than finishing his pork belly dinner out there in the pen… 8-5 Raccoons. Adame 2-5; Toohey 2-5; Herrera 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Martell 1-1, 2 BB, 2B; Dalton (PH) 1-1, RBI; Merino 7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (14-7) and 1-3, RBI;

Derek Baskins has a 12-game hitting streak in the middle of a team scoring drought – who’d expect that!?

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – CF Herrera – SS Waters – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – C Gonzalez – LF Baskins – 3B Coen – P Harman
MIL: LF Reeves – CF Pate – C Payne – 2B Loyola – RF Lovell – 1B McIntyre – SS R. Lopez – 3B Barrington – P W. Wright

Speaking of terrible pitching, here’s Carlton Harman. Three hits, a walk, generally bad counts, and a 2-0 deficit was the first inning alone, and the Loggers added a run in the third inning Wright had surrendered a run to Harman alone in the top 3rd. Harman hit a leadoff single, advanced on two groundouts, then was balked across home plate by Wright. Portland sent the tying runs to the corners in the fifth, Coen drawing a leadoff walk and Arturo Carreno hitting a single with one gone. Herrera came through again here, zinging a sizzler into the left-center gap for a game-tying triple…! Waters made it 4-3 with a sac fly, and Toohey hit a fly to deep left, but had it caught by Bill Reeves.

A lead was not something you’d think Harman could work with, but he pitched two more innings without blowing the lead, but after six had really long-counted his pitch count into the “high enough” region and he was batted for to lead off the top 7th. Wright was still pitching, but came apart on soft singles by Adame – who sent Harman showering – and Carreno, then walked the bags full after Herrera tagged on a run with a sac fly, 5-3. Pellicano drove in two more runs with a liner to right that fell for a single, after which ex-Coon-and-everything-else Rich Willett dug the Loggers out of that inning, but gave up a third 3-spot to the Coons in the eighth, all runs scoring on Matt Waters’ 19th homer of the season and with two outs. Three more hits scored another run after that, Ruben Gonzalez getting the Coons to 11-3. After which we tried again – Alcala to the mound! …and could he pitch six outs before giving up eight runs? Kinda – he allowed a single and got a double play in the eighth, then – despite being put in the eighth-to-bat spot for the ninth, grounded out to end the top 9th after the Raccoons had whacked another three runs out of the Loggers’ pen. Mercado hit a sac fly, Pellicano drove home another pair. And Alcala? Gave up a single, a homer, a walk, a wild pitch, and another homer in the bottom 9th before getting kicked to the curb. Hitchcock had to finish the game… 14-7 Raccoons. Carreno 4-6; Herrera 2-4, 3B, 3 RBI; Waters 2-4, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Pellicano 3-5, 2B, 4 RBI; Gonzalez 4-5, RBI; Adame (PH) 1-1; Gurney (PH) 1-2;

The Indians had been off on Monday, so that got the magic number to seven already. They shut out the Titans on Tuesday behind Bill Drury, but that still put the magic number at six.

The Thunder clinched the South on Tuesday, beating the Aces 5-2 to seal the deal, now with a 20-game lead over the Bayhawks and the edge over the recently slumping Raccoons for home field in the CLCS.

Game 3
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – CF Herrera – 2B Waters – LF Baskins – 1B Gurney – 3B Martell – C Morales – P Okuda
MIL: 1B Edsell – 3B M. Grant – SS R. Espinoza – C Payne – LF Bush – 2B R. Lopez – RF McIntyre – CF Pate – P Pollock

Alex Adame, vying for the stolen base title in the CL, picked up his 35th bag after hitting a 1-out double in the top 1st, taking third base and scoring on the play when Ricky Payne misfired the ball past Mike Grant. Okuda, up 1-0, ran four 3-ball counts in the bottom 1st, somehow without getting burned, but had a much cleaner second inning to calm me down at least a little bit. The Loggers would amount to five hits and two walks against Okuda in five innings, but no runs, while Armando Herrera hit a solo jack in the fifth to extend the lead to 2-0. Ricky Lopez hit a 1-out double in the bottom 6th, and after Will McIntyre popped out, the Raccoons walked Pate intentionally. Milwaukee sent Pat Lovell to bat for Pollock, but he grounded out to Martell to end the inning and strand a pair.

Okuda retired none more, offering a leadoff walk to Kyle Edsell and a single to Grant in the bottom 7th before getting yanked. Josh Rella gave up a double to Espinoza, then a sac fly to Payne, and that got the game tied in a real hurry. Ricky Lopez then grabbed the lead with an RBI single off Aaron Curl. The eighth saw Herrera hit a leadoff single before both Waters and Baskins hit into force outs at second base, and Gurney was no help, either. The Loggers gave the 3-2 game to Caleb Martin in the ninth, with the bottom of the order up against the right-hander. Martell and Morales grounded out, Toohey struck out, and the Loggers had another win over the Raccoons. 3-2 Loggers. Herrera 3-3, BB, HR, RBI;

The Indians won, getting another shutout from Enrique Ortiz, so the magic number remained at six.

Game 4
POR: CF Herrera – SS Waters – 1B Maldonado – LF Toohey – RF Pellicano – C Gonzalez – 2B Carreno – 3B Coen – P Baker
MIL: LF Reeves – 3B M. Grant – 2B Loyola – SS R. Espinoza – RF Lovell – C Payne – 1B Edsell – CF B. Allen – P T. Ruiz

Ruiz entered not only with 18 losses, but also 192 hits and 100 walks, and I told the boys before the game that if they didn’t get his WHIP denominator up to 300 in this game, they’d have all their candy privileges revoked back home in Portland. They thus scattered a walk and four hits in the first three innings, but the only run they scored came on a balk by the pitcher, which somehow happened for the second time in this series already. Gonzalez walked and Coen doubled in the fourth, but in between Carreno had hit into a double play already and Baker was rung up on strikes. 300 was reached the inning after with a 1-out single by Matt Waters. But between the next three batters, Toohey drew a walk amidst two groundouts, and we didn’t score yet again…

At least Baker had nursed a 1-hitter so far, but loaded the bases with two singles to Lovell and Brent Allen in the bottom 5th, plus a walk to Edsell. That brought up Ruiz with two outs, and the Loggers clearly thought they wanted to see more of HIM, and had him strike out to keep it a 1-0 game. Ruiz was not removed until Waters hit a 2-out single in the seventh, then saw Dave Peluso wave the runner across by giving up a double to Maldonado, and Toohey also hit a hard ball, but right at Grant for the third out. Espinoza and Lovell meanwhile sent Baker home to begin the bottom 7th, hitting a pair of singles, but once Nelson Moreno arrived in the game he struck out three in a row to quell the threat. Bonnie and Porter conspired to give up a run in the bottom 8th, however, each dropping a hit to the Loggers to narrow the tally to 2-1. The Coons could not tack on, but the Loggers could tie in the ninth… Lovell hit a leadoff single off Lynn, was run for by Mario Contreras, and the pinch-runner scored on a 2-out single by Brent Allen, tying the game and ultimately sending it to extras after McIntyre grounded out in the #9 spot.

While the Raccoons lineup remained uninvolved, Kevin Hitchcock pitched two scoreless innings, whiffing three, to begin overtime baseball. While we had Rella around, with no offense of our own we went to Chaney in the bottom 12th. If we had to lose, at least let’s lose right now and not in the 19th… Chaney obliged, giving up a walkoff homer to John Pate as soon as he took the hill… 3-2 Loggers. Waters 3-5, 2B; Maldonado 2-5, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 3-4, BB, 2B; Baker 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K; Hitchcock 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

The Indians beat the lifeless Titans once again, so that reduced our lead to 11 and I now had lost hope that we’d even win 100 games this year… especially with the next team up being the stomping Thunder…

Ken Mills was added off the DL for the weekend.

Raccoons (95-51) vs. Thunder (96-49) – September 13-15, 2047

The Thunder were first in runs scored and third in runs allowed. Their +199 run differential dwarved the Coons’ +141 mark, and I had little confidence by now that we had a say in the pennant decider this year. Nothing worked out for the Coons. The Thunder also had two missing starters in Victor Marquez and Oscar Flores, but they were also first in almost every offensive category, except that they were in the bottom 3 in stolen bases. The season series was even at three, with a sweep chalked up for each side.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (12-7, 2.75 ERA) vs. Ray Thune (8-5, 4.02 ERA)
Victor Merino (14-7, 3.12 ERA) vs. Felix Alvarez (3-0, 1.98 ERA)
Carlton Harman (1-4, 6.82 ERA) vs. J.J. Hendrix (11-8, 3.02 ERA)

Only right-handers lined up by the Thunder.

Game 1
OCT: LF Zurita – 2B Ban – RF Benavides – SS R. Cox – 1B Humphreys – C Adames – 3B Greer – CF J. Price – P Thune
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – LF Baskins – CF Mills – C Morales – P Wheatley

Angelo Zurita greeted the CLCS victims with a leadoff triple, but was stranded when Jonathan Ban lined out and Wheats rung up Juan Benavides and Ryan Cox. Benavides got back at the pitcher in the third inning, though, hitting a 2-out, 2-run homer with Zurita having doubled ahead of him. Yeah, we were not gonna go to the World Series anyway. It sucks at the World Series! SUCKS! (spoons big bowl of chocolate pudding while also crying into the bowl)

While the Coons did not get a hit until Bryce Toohey clonked his 24th homer of the year off the left foul pole in the fourth inning – a solo home run to get to 2-1 – the Thunder’s Zurita had the third leg of the cycle ticked off by the fifth inning, singling off Wheatley to begin the inning, which made seven hits off Wheats. He was stranded that time, but the Thunder got at least one hit per inning out of Wheatley, which could not go well forever. The Raccoons reached a mighty TWO hits with a Maldo single to open the bottom 6th, which somehow also put the tying run aboard. Toohey popped out, Waters hit a deep drive that was nevertheless caught by Jim Price, and Baskins hit a 2-out single; hey, a runner in scoring position! There he remained, Ken Mills grounding out to second…

Wheats went into the eighth, retiring the last eight batters he faced, ending his day with a K to Jesus Adames, but still was on the hook, 2-1. The Coons’ Adame and Maldonado opened the bottom 8th with outs, before Toohey singled to send Thune home. Waters singled of Tom Spencer, but hitting for Baskins, Pellicano popped out after drawing righty Jon Craig (not the former Critter). Rella retired the Thunder in order in the ninth, with right-hander John Steuer up for the bottom of the inning. He got Mills to 0-2, then gave up a gapper for a leadoff double. Oh come on boys! (splats pudding around shaking his paw aggravatedly) At least take Wheats off the hook! Morales struck out. Martell popped out. Mercado grounded out. 2-1 Thunder. Toohey 2-4, HR, RBI; Mills 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Wheatley 8.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, L (12-8);

Sometimes, I ******* hate this team.

The Indians lost to the Falcons, 9-3, so at least the magic number went down to five…

The Coons added two more players – with AAA having concluded its season on Friday – by Saturday: outfielder Roberto Medina was brought back once again, and also right-hander Danny Cancel for his major league debut. Cancel, 24, was a trash heap signing from March that had pitched at all three minor league levels this year, and generally with good success. He had been discovered by the Baybirds in the Dominican Republic in 2039, and had been released last year.

Game 2
OCT: CF J. Price – 2B Ban – RF Benavides – LF Humphreys – SS R. Cox – C Adames – 3B Greer – 1B J. Aviles – P F. Alvarez
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Gonzalez – 2B Gurney – CF Herrera – LF Mills – P Merino

Merino leaked singles to the first three batters to load the bases, I whined, but the Thunder only got a run on Cox’ grounder; Steve Humphreys struck out, and Adames grounded out to Maldonado to strand a pair. A Maldo doubled and Toohey’s RBI single tied the game in the bottom 1st, but the top of the Thunder order whacked Merino again in the third inning. Price and Ban singled, went to the corners, and Merino fell behind on a wild pitch… Ban was stranded after Ryan Cox’ 2-out walk when Gurney handled Adames’ grounder. This deficit was also tied, but not until the fifth inning. Gurney doubled, then scored on a Mills single, and everybody was even at two after five frames. – Maud, I’ll need a bigger pudding bowl, this one is full of tears.

Cox (walk) and Adames (single) went to the corners with one out in the sixth, but Marshall Greer found his way into a 4-6-3 double play, while instead of a lead, or a win, or a ******* bigger bowl I got more shards in the seventh. Merino saw Maldonado throw away Alvarez’ grounder for a 1-out, 2-base error, and T.J. Lujan immediately hit a pinch-hit RBI double in place of Price to give the Thunder a 3-2 lead. Ban singled to right, Mercado threw the ball back in, but hurt himself on the play, and was replaced by Pellicano. Humphreys homered off Moreno in the eighth, 4-2, while the Raccoons got a Gurney single in the seventh, a Mills single in the eighth, and didn’t to **** with either of them. Steuer faced the middle of the order in the ninth. Maldonado popped out. Toohey grounded out. Gonzalez scratched a single at 1-2. Gurney fell behind 0-2, then hit a dribbler near the third-base line and legged that out to put his bum on base as the tying run. And then Herrera grounded out. 4-2 Thunder. Gurney 3-4, 2B; Mills 2-3, RBI;

…

Game 3
OCT: LF Zurita – 2B Ban – RF Benavides – SS R. Cox – 1B Humphreys – 3B Greer – C Zarate – CF J. Price – P Hendrix
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – C Morales – LF Medina – P Harman

Harman’s first pitch was hit 400 feet to right for an instant 1-0 deficit by Angelo Zurita, but the Raccoons made up the gap again in the bottom 1st with an Adame double, Herrera single, and Maldo hitting a sac fly to center. Herrera went on to swipe second base, then scored on a Toohey single to actually take a ******* lead for the first time since I DON’T KNOW ANYMORE. Nicking Waters and a Gurney single loaded the bases, and Morales’ grounder to first brought in a third run. With first base open, the Thunder pitched to Medina in the #8 hole, and were punished for a 2-run single. Harman struck out, and now it was betting about how soon he’d blow the 5-1 lead. Maud said he wouldn’t, Slappy picked the fifth, Cristiano the fourth, and me? The second, with at most one out.

I lost, because I always lose. Jim Price was nicked in the top 2nd, but that was all for Oklahoma. The Coons got a double from Adame to begin the bottom 2nd, but Adame also waved to the dugout, then was removed after consultation with Dr. Padilla, and I burst into tears. Carreno would take over the #1 hole, with Waters sliding over to short. Maldo doubled home Carreno, 6-1, Toohey singled to park the two boppers on the corners, and then Waters wanted to get in on the conversation, also smacking an RBI double to right. That was the end of Hendrix, with Jon Craig allowing two more runs on a Morales single with two outs. Harman singled to lead off the bottom 3rd, Craig threw a wild pitch, Carreno walked, and Craig threw another wild pitch. Herrera raked a 2-run double, which made it an 11-1 game. Maldo added an RBI single in the inning, but then Toohey hit into a double play. I was still waiting for Harman to cork the 12-1 lead…

He didn’t shedding one more run in five innings of work for 96 pitches (…), but that would qualify for a W. The Coons didn’t score in the fourth, but in the fifth began with a 1-2-3 batters on base against Oliver Delcid. Toohey drew a bases-loaded walk before Waters and Gurney made poor outs on a pop and K. Delcid was then touched by Tony Morales for another two runs on a single through the right side. Medina grounded out, keeping it at 15-2. The sixth brought a new battery with Chaney (!) and Dalton replacing the starters. Chaney kept sucking; he had a 1-2-3 inning, then loaded the bases without retiring anybody in the seventh and got yoinked. All runs scored, plus one more; Bonnie walked in two runs, also not retiring ****, while Ibold got out of the damn inning, for the price of a Humphreys sac fly and an RBI single by ex-Coon Jose Zarate. The eighth was a scoreless frame from Alcala (yay…), before Cancel got his major league debut in the ninth inning against the 4-5-6 batters. Triple, single, deep fly out… He walked Zarate, but Price hit into a double play to end the game. 15-7 Critters. Adame 2-2, 2 2B; Carreno 1-1, 2 BB; Herrera 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Maldonado 2-3, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Toohey 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Morales 3-4, 2B, 5 RBI;

In other news

September 10 – NAS SP Leborio Valdevesso (11-9, 3.57 ERA) will require reconstructive surgery for a stretched elbow ligament, rendering him out for this season and potentially all of next season, too.
September 10 – IND SP Bill Drury (13-13, 2.92 ERA) shuts out the Titans on two hits, 5-0, to get his record to an even .500 with an ERA that says he should be better.
September 11 – Back-to-back 2-hit shutouts? IND SP Enrique Ortiz (3-0, 2.20 ERA, 1 SV) says yes in a spot start, holding the Titans to two base knocks in a 3-0 win.
September 14 – Warriors SP Seth Green (3-2, 5.32 ERA) carries a no-hitter to two outs in the ninth inning before it is broken up on a pinch-hit RBI double by Miners RF Justin Waltz (.296, 10 HR, 64 RBI). The Warriors still win, 2-1.
September 15 – Boston INF/LF/RF Jose Rodriguez (.318, 1 HR, 6 RBI) hits his first career home run at age 23 for the sole tally in a 1-0 win over the Condors.

FL Player of the Week: PIT 3B/SS Ed Soberanes (.326, 15 HR, 80 RBI), batting .400 (10-25) with 3 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN LF/1B/RF Eddie Moreno (.302, 33 HR, 90 RBI), crushing .400 (12-30) with 5 HR, 12 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Neither Alex Adame, nor Nelson Mercado are seriously hurt, Dr. Padilla let me know in time after the Sunday game. They were listed as day-to-day, one with a sore back, the other with a sore shoulder, but should be back by next weekend, so in time to see us **** the division to the Indians, I guess.

We’re not gonna win 100. We’d suck our way to 99-63, out of spite, somehow, and then get swept in the CLCS. I just knew it. I could already SEE it in my head…

Don’t look, but Mr. Second Half has taken the lead in the CL ERA race. Wheats sits at a 2.73 ERA, one whisker ahead of Indy’s Bill Nichol. Boston’s Brian Jackson was a late bloomer at 27 and in third place with a 2.87 mark in his first season as a regular starter.

Going back to Sunday, the first five innings for the Coons went 54303, which is the ZIP code for Brown Bay, Wisconsin. It used to be called Green Bay, but after the Great Iron Sludge Retention Basin Disaster of ’39 up there it’s been brown ever since…

All of our minor league teams this year finished in the bottom half and with a losing record. The less said, the better.

The Indians completed their sweep of the Falcons on Sunday, which put us at a magic number of four, merely half of what it had been on Monday morning. They weren’t missing beats right now. Meanwhile, the Coons couldn’t miss the low punches in the groin area…….

Next week? Condors at home, then the final regular season road trip to New York, just a weekend vacation. Did I mention the final week was against the damn Elks and the Indians? Even a 7-game lead might not be enough!!

Fun Fact: In 2007, the Raccoons led the division by 10 1/2 games on June 26 and blew it to the Crusaders.

This year? 20 1/2 games on AUGUST 13!

I am afraid.